The Crusade
by William War
Summary: Ranulfr is many things, Dragonborn, Thane of Whiterun, Harbinger of the Companions, Werewolf, and so on. But there is one thing that has fueled all of this: his hatred for Vampires. He came back to his ancesteral home, seeking vengance, but what he will find is far more powerful than anything he could have imagined.


Ranulfr, plundering wolf… what a name his father had given him, especially since that fit his lot in life exactly. The Companions had welcomed him with open arms after he proved himself to be a capable warrior. Now, he was a member of the circle, and had become one with the beast blood. He was, as his name suggested, a plundering wolf.

Dust. Debris. The taste of blood in his mouth. Pain coursing throughout his entire body. He flicked his eyes open, and looked around.

Serena was possibly ten feet from him, sitting against a wall by the door, blood dripping from her mouth.

Ranulfr groaned in pain, not just from his own wounds, but from the sight of his… friend, unconscious. It didn't just pain him to see her like that, for some reason, it enraged him. He shook his head and stood, loosening his armor straps. Lord Harkon, the vampire lord behind the plot to take over Tamriel and Serena's father, floated in the center of the room, his power radiant throughout the chamber.

"You pathetic knave, did you really think you could best me? I am immortal! I have killed more men than you have ever met, and you really thought that you, a mere man, could stand a chance to defeat me?" Harkon cackled, "Even if you did bring my traitorous daughter along with you, you could not have had a hope of stopping me."

Ranulfr let his armor drop to the floor, piece by piece, to some, a symbol of surrender.

"Do you expect me to show mercy, dog?" Harkon grinned menacingly, "You are filth. You are prey. You aren't worthy to even be in my presence, so count yourself privileged that you will die by my hand."

Ranulfr's entire body began to convulse violently, as the remainder of his armor fell off of him.

The Vampire Lord laughed. "You pitiful mongrel, you think that your beast blood will save you? I'm going to put you down like the rabid dog you are."

His bones shattered, his body morphed into his beast form, his skin was covered in a thick fur coat, and his eyes turned honey gold. As the transformation took place, Ranulfr let out a blood curdling shriek of pain that quickly turned into a terrifying roar of rage.

Harkon tilted his head to the side, his lips curling into a smirk. "This wolf has some fangs after all, eh? No matter, you will die all the same."

Before he could lift his hand to cast a spell, Ranulfr had lunged across the room, claws extended outward.

Harkon ducked out of the way, grabbing the werewolf by his tail and throwing him to the ground.

He hit with a loud thump, and the stone beneath him cracked. He stood quickly, shook his head violently and sliced through the air with his claws.

This time, Harkon wasn't quite fast enough, as his bicep was shredded by the claws of his foe.

The smell of powerful vampiric blood filled Ranulfr's head, stirring the beast inside of him. He loved the smell of his enemy's blood, for some reason, and wanted… no, needed to have more.

Harkon flew at Ranulfr, not knowing that his senses were now higher than ever.

Ranulfr whipped around and backhanded his foe, staggering him for a second. Using this brief disruption, he jammed his claws into Harkon's back, and ran toward a wall, using the Vampire as a shield.

He slammed him into the wall full force, just before Harkon was able to transform into bats and escape.

He removed his claws from the back of his foe and grabbed him by the wings. He placed his foot on the Vampire's back and pulled with all of his might.

With a ripping sound, and a roar of triumph, Harkon was rendered wingless.

Ranulfr took the time to lap the blood of his foe's wings into his mouth, savoring every drop of it. It was like a drug now, he needed to feast upon the Vampire Lord more… he needed to take his heart.

Harkon collected himself and slashed at the Werewolf's stomach, drawing blood from the jagged wound before healing.

"What… what in Oblivion is going on?" he panted, as the beast dropped the wings and looked towards him.

With a lightning speed that Harkon hadn't known was possible from such a lumbering beast, Ranulfr rained blows down upon him, never letting up, never resting.

After what seemed to be hours of continuous fighting, Harkon was pinned face down, his blood crazed foe pinning him to the ground with his foot.

Ranulfr grabbed Harkon's jaw with both hands and pulled his head backwards.

The Vampire Lord was, by now drained of too much blood to put up much of a fight, resisting as much as he could. It wasn't enough.

Harkon could feel the muscles and tissue in his neck rip, as his head twisted ever farther backwards.

Finally, despite the struggle, there was a snap, quickly followed up by a sickening tear.

Ranulfr had ripped Harkon's head off of his body. Blood sprayed from the corpse, and dripped from the head that the Werewolf was now holding in his claws. He tossed it off to the side and it landed close to the now awakening Serena.

She opened her eyes to find the head of her father at her feet, and the man she had fought and lived beside, for several weeks, feasting upon the corpse of the once powerful Vampiric Lord.

She stood, trembling, as she watched the beast feed.

She had known that Ranulfr was a werewolf, but he had never allowed that side to show. Now she saw why.

"Ranulfr?" she rasped, her throat lined with dust, "Can you hear me?"

His ears perked up and he whipped around to face her. He advanced toward her slowly, his inner beast still thirsting for blood.

She backed away slowly as he came closer. "Don't make me kill you… I will!" she shouted, trying to convince both herself and Ranulfr at the same time.

With a backhand, he swatted her dagger away, and pinned her arms to the wall. His eyes burned with rage and bloodlust, as he sniffed her neck.

Serena shivered in fear, praying that he wasn't still under the control of his beast blood. His mouth opened, exposing the razor sharp teeth that had ripped into her father's flesh but only a few moments ago. She cringed, squeezing her eyes shut, waiting for death… but nothing happened.

With great hesitation, she opened her eyes to find Ranulfr staring into her. He growled softly, and let go of her, backing away slowly, before dropping to his knees and painfully transforming back into a man.

She watched as he collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted. Serena ran to his side, knelt next to him, and propped his head up onto her lap.

She smiled down at the exhausted Nord as he panted, looking into her eyes. "What are you looking at?" she teased.

A grin crept across his lips, but he said nothing as darkness filled his vision, and everything seemed to slip away…

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is going to be my version of the Dawnguard DLC, and in the next chapter I'll start from the beginning of the story, that is, if you want me to continue. Please review and tell me what you think and how to improve it. Thank you.


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